Audition Tips
Whether you're new to e.T.c.
or an experienced old hand, auditions can make even the
most experienced, professional actor nervous. The
most successful auditions come from proper preparation.
You'll always be nervous - that's when you have to
remember to breathe and relax. This page is
designed to help you do just that!
The most successful auditions come from proper
preparation. The more familiar you are with your
material, the more confident you will feel while
performing your audition.
MONOLOGUE
AUDITION
WHAT IS A MONOLOGUE?
A monologue is a speech that one actor makes in a play.
It is usually 1 minute in length and may or may not be
spoken to another person.
Selecting a monologue:
• Find a monologue you enjoy. Monologue books may
be found at your local library or bookstore.
• For a first time auditioner, chose a character
that is someone similar to yourself.
• If you are auditioning for a specific role, find
a monologue that exposes traits of that character.
• Make sure that you select material that has an
age range you can play convincingly. A good audition
monologue can show off a few different sides of yourself
for the director.
PREPARING A MONOLOGUE:
When deciding how to present your monologue, think of
these questions:
• Who are you and what is your personality
like?
• Where are you?
• When is it? What century, year? What
time of year? What time of day?
• Who are you talking to?
• What do you want from them – or
want them to understand – or want to prevent them
from doing?
How are you going to achieve your “what”.
There should be several different tactics that you use.
There are often natural pauses in monologues where the
subject, mood or intensity changes. We call these beats.
Try to break up your monologues into beats and make
choices for each section about how the character is
trying to get the “what”.
SPOTTING
When we know that an invisible acting partner
(technically known as “spot”) is needed to
make a song or monologue come to life, we can
mentally choose the appropriate partner for that
song. Make a partner someone you are comfortable with.
Place that spot (invisible acting partner) on the back
wall about five or six inches above the heads of the
people you are auditioning for. Choose the person in the
center of the auditioners and spot over his/her head so
that all of them can see your face, especially your eyes.
Turning that spot on the wall into a believable, live
person takes time and practice. Do remember to blink, but
under no circumstances should you close your eyes while
you are singing at an audition.
STAGE FRIGHT!
No matter how prepared you are for your audition, you
will probably experience at least a little stage fright.
Even the most experienced performers get nervous before
they perform. No one wants to make mistakes, but we all
experience them at sometime or another. Don’t focus
on your failures (do learn from them) but remember your
successes. Think of auditions as learning processes, then
the fear of failure won’t have as much power.
“Break in” material in other venues (i.e. in
front of your family or friends) before using it at an
audition. This will help strip the audition of its
importance and makes it easier to go through the
audition process. It is important to realize that
auditioning takes a lot of courage and just completing it
is a major accomplishment. Even if you feel you could
have done better, you should come out of your audition
feeling proud to have done something so courageous.
SINGING AUDITION
Points the Auditionee should be aware
of:
• Know your music/song:
• Know the lyrics well.
• Know your tempo (how fast or slow you perform the
song).
• Know exactly where you will begin singing and
where you will end.
• Know the accompaniment: how it sounds in relation
to the musical line you are singing.
• Know how to tell the accompanist your tempo,
starting and stopping points, etc.
• For e.T.c., it is preferable NOT to sing a song
from the show that you are auditioning for.
• Know your entire piece of music well, however, be
prepared to sing only a portion if that’s all the
auditioner requests (this is commonly due to time
constraints).
• Good posture promotes good breathing and singing
technique, so stand up straight and tall.
• Concentrate and focus on what you are singing
about, not where you are and who is watching you. If you
make a mistake, don’t giggle and
acknowledge your mistake. Instead, keep going and cover
your mistake as if the song were written that way.
• Find a focus point. Don’t let your eyes
roll around in your head. Pick a spot and visualize the
person you are singing to. Do not look down at
your feet.
• Practice introducing yourself and the song to the
auditioners beforehand:
• First, give sheet music to the accompanist and
let him/her know how you perform it (tempo, where to
begin and end, and interpretive liberties you may take)
• Walk to the center of the room and face the
auditioners.
• State your full name, the name of the song you
are performing, its composer and what show it is from.
• Take a moment to compose yourself and when you
feel ready to sing, nod to the accompanist.
• Stand with feet slightly apart and your body
firmly centered. (Ears over shoulders, over hips, over
balls of feet, etc., chest up and ribs out/expanded, but
never rigid).
• Use body movement to help express the meaning of
the song (arm gestures, and simple movement, not a
complicated dance)
IMPORTANT TIPS:
• Never yell or scream before singing (or ever!)
• Do not consume chocolate, milk, or soda before
singing. These cause excess secretion of mucous which is
not good for singing.
• Keep vocal chords, nose and throat moist. Drink
plenty of water!
MORE SINGING TIPS
• Sing for
awhile on the day of your audition, before your audition.
If you take voice lessons and know some warm-up
exercises, do them. Otherwise, sing your audition song,
sing another song, sing anything. Make sure the voice is
ready to go.
• Get a good
night sleep before the audition. Drink lots of water and
make sure you aren't trying to sing on an empty stomach.
• If you want
to audition for a certain character, try to pick an
audition song that that character might sing (not from
the show). For instance, if the character is mean or
funny, find a song that is mean or funny to sing. If they
are in love, sing a love song.
• Choose a
song that shows off the best parts of your voice. This
doesn't mean something really hard, but something you
will sing the best. A simple song sung well is much more
impressive than a hard song sung poorly.
• Make sure
you have it memorized well in advance or at least know it
very well. Making a mistake is not the end of the world.
We've all made them.
• Make sure
you have real sheet music for the pianist. If all you
have is the words, this is not sheet music. A complete
piano part written out is always the best. Some pianists
can fake-it otherwise, but not all can.
• Make sure
the sheet music you have is in the range you want to
sing. Don't expect the pianist to transpose (play it
higher or lower) than the music says because you can't
sing it as written. If you can't sing what is on the
page, you should find another song.
• If you know anything about playing the piano or
know someone who does check to see that the piano part is
not too difficult. You don't want to give the pianist
something they are going to have to struggle with and
throw you off as a result. Remember - pop songs are
always hard for most pianists to sight-read (play without
practicing). Try to avoid them if you can.
• Sing out!
Try to fill the room with you voice - even if you make a
mistake. If you know the song well enough try to show
some emotion with it too. This makes it much more
believable to the listener.
• Act like you
are having fun and enjoying the process even if you are
scared to death. We all want you to do well and again,
it's okay if you make a mistake.
WHAT THE AUDITIONER WILL BE WATCHING FOR
• How the
auditionee enters the room and carries/handles
himself/herself.
• How
confident is the auditionee with his/her material. If a
mistake is made, how well is it handled.
• Intonation:
Manner of producing tones with regard to accuracy of
pitch.
• Pitch: The
location of a musical sound in the tonal scale. Does the
auditionee’s pitch match that of the music, or is
it sharp or flat?
• Timbre or
Tone Quality (“Color”): The quality of the
sound that distinguishes it from others of the same pitch
and volume.
• Volume: The
loudness of the sound.
• Projection:
Directing one’s voice so as to be heard clearly at
a distance.
•
Musicianship: The skill level with which you perform your
song, musically speaking.
• Rhythm: In
its basic sense, the whole feeling of movement in music.
The organization of time in regards to music relative to
duration and intensity of sound.
• Expression
and Interpretation: What kind of emotion you put into
your song/monologue
performance and how well you relay the meaning of the
song/monologue to the audience (in
this case the auditioners).
Good luck and "break a leg"